MSJ in the News
A Summer Camp Where Play Time Isn't Just for KidsCopyright The Washington Post Company Jul 30, 2006 Saxophonist Matice Wright took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn't mess up when the teacher called on her. Owen Dall and Glenn Spiegel also were fidgeting with nerves. It was the second day of band camp, and performance anxiety was building. Never mind that Wright is a 41-year-old former Navy navigator, Dall, 55, is a software designer and Spiegel, 58, a senior analyst for the federal government. Unlike many day-campers across the Washington region, these students had life experiences to draw on. They weren't antsy preschoolers eager to master papier-mache, or self-conscious middle-schoolers learning to dunk like Shaq. Among the 42 participants at the Maryland Summer Jazz Band Boot Camp held two weeks ago were a former federal judge, a defense industry consultant, lawyers and computer systems analysts, along with a smattering of physicians, teachers, sales representatives and clergy members. The campers had traveled from as far as New England to a Rockville church to take a shot at dreams they'd closed the case on and stuffed into the backs of their closets. Spiegel, a Chevy Chase father of three and business owner, said he attended the camp for a "rare opportunity to do music all day." "You've got music in you, and you are trying to get it out," he said. "I know that coming to this camp, I'm going to get encouragement, and I need it. I'm a 58-year-old guy who is not confident about his musical abilities. I listen to great jazz -- Coltrane, Ellington, Michael Brecker -- and think, 'I'll never sound like that.' I need encouragement to get up there and play the way I play and not be self-conscious-- 'Oh, I'm going to mess up.' " Maryland Summer Jazz, which held two three-day summer camps this year, was the brainchild of jazz saxophonist and bandleader Jeff Antoniuk of Annapolis. It costs about $400 to participate in the camp, which ends with student and faculty performances. Click here for the rest of the article The GazetteCamp gets musicians jazzed about return to scene July 27, 2005 K Kaufmann Jazz saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk (left) teaches a master class in improvisation at Maryland Summer Jazz, the three-day adult jazz camp he organized last week at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church. The camp drew 36 musicians, like drummer Allan Lewis of Takoma Park.
But on Friday night, all three men were performing jazz standards -- Lewis on drums, Marcus on flute and Kaufman on trumpet -- with area sax player Jeff Antoniuk and his band, Jazz Update. The occasion was the closing concert of Maryland Summer Jazz, Antoniuk's three-day jazz camp for adult musicians, at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church in Rockville, and the mood was jubilant. "I love being up there," Marcus said after a final jam with Antoniuk and other students. "I feel such joy." Click here for the rest of the article Copyright © 2005 The Gazette - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Most days, Allan Lewis of Takoma Park is an analyst with the Federal Aviation Administration, Steve Marcus of Silver Spring teaches electrical engineering at the University of Maryland and Steve Kaufman of Bethesda is a periodontist with offices in Washington, D.C.